A young, athletic, pass first PG, that will come in and get our bench scoring started and not have a huge letdown when our starter goes out. Our starter is and will be in my guess Mo Williams. And I am fine with that. Outside the top 5-10 PG’s (who are the super star/all star PGs- who we won’t be getting) in the league, you can interchange all the remaining PGs (including the ones in this list as none of them are Super Star/All Star PGs) and probably not see a significant change in the record/outlook of your team.

But I can agree with you in one thing – Burks I want Burks to get more minutes, I think he has the makings to be something special. But I am afraid they way he is being used is going to do more damage then good.

Check out his FG% over the past four years in OKC: 43, 40, 36, 29. His PER the same years: 12, 12, 9, 7. And, remember, 15 is average. Yikes.

Some guys can get away with low FG% numbers if they shoot well from 3, or play great D, or are big assist guys. But none of those are really true of Maynor. He averages 6, 7 assists per 36 mins, which is below average for a PG.

Could Maynor turn it around? Absolutely, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a guy who has been as bad as him during his age 22-25 years who takes a big leap.

And while I realize 25 isn’t old, it is a bit old to take a big leap. When 20, 21 year olds struggle, you can still hold out hope that, ala Chauncey Bllups or Tyson Chandler, they just need to be in the right place to thrive. I, for example, still want Burks to play big minutes, even though he has struggled at times, since he’s so young. Maybe he learns to shoot!

CJ Miles is another good example: I defended him for years, since he was SO young. But now, he’s 25, and I think we can agree CJ is what CJ is: a streaky shooter who pretty much sucks at everything else. I’d be shocked if he’s still in the league when he’s 30.

Anyway, good dialogue. Again, I bet Maynor could be had for something modest. Worth a shot. But I wouldn’t hold out hope he’ll ever be a starter in this league.

]]>By: Jeff Bevanhttp://saltcityhoops.com/a-shoppers-guide-to-point-guards/#comment-3108
Fri, 25 Jan 2013 19:37:14 +0000http://saltcityhoops.com/?p=5990#comment-3108Do you know why he is playing awful this year? Or are you a Locke inspired by the numbers type evaluator?

A – this is his first season coming off a ACL injury that cost him almost an entire season.
B- he has lost his spot (for whatever reason) to a overachieving Reggie Jackson

Yes his numbers are down… But why wouldn’t they be? He doesn’t confidence. But his best numbers are when he gets the time to play

As far as his age being 25 and you saying “He is not really young” HE IS 25 years old!!!!!!

Lets look at your list and see the ages of them and the amount of “miles” on them already:

Eric Maynor – 25 years old, 4 years in the league – just under 3,000 minutes played

8: Jose Calderon – 31 years old – 7 years in the league – 14,000+ minutes played

7: Isiah Thomas – 23 years old, 2 years in the league – 2,500 minutes played.

6: Jarrett Jack – 29 years old, 7 years in the league – 15,000+ minutes played

5: Brandon Knight – 21 years old; 2 years in the league – 3,500 minutes played

4: Brandon Jennings- 23 years old; 4 years in the league – 8,600+ minutes played

3: Goran Dragic – 26 years old; 5 years in the league – 6,400+ minutes played

2: Kyle Lowry – 26 years old; 7 years in the league – 10,000+ minutes played

1: Eric Bledsoe – 23 years old; 3 years in the league – 3,000+ minutes played

So Maynor is younger then 4 of your players. Has less miles on him than all of them (Except Isiah Thomas – who is not a viable Starting quality PG and just another Nate Robinson type player)

Don’t get me wrong- I like the idea of Bledsoe, but it’s not happening this year. And probably won’t happen next year either.. Our best chance will most likely be overpaying him once he is a restricted free agent the summer of 2014. And we wont be making that offer because we will have MO Williams locked up to a 3-4 year deal still.

So let’s trade Raja Bell, who by the way we are paying to stay home and get our self a backup PG.. Because we have our starting PG in Mo

]]>By: Matthttp://saltcityhoops.com/a-shoppers-guide-to-point-guards/#comment-3106
Fri, 25 Jan 2013 19:02:43 +0000http://saltcityhoops.com/?p=5990#comment-3106Maynor I didn’t consider — but then I looked at his numbers and they’re AWFUL, as I note in an above comment. Shooting 29 pct this year and barely playing.

Shved is very interesting: young, big, developing. And Minnesota needs some size. If I were to re-do the column, I’d add him!

I’m not so sure Collison is good — much better than Mo Williams, let’s say. But looking at his numbers again, they’ve improved this year, he’s only 25 and as you say, Dallas likes to trade!

When you construct a column like this, you look for guys who MIGHT be available. That’s all. And I think in each of the writeups, I explain why they MIGHT be available. Of course, I have no inside information, but in each of these cases, there are reasons: Another decent or better PG is on the roster or even starts (True for TOR, LAC, SAC and GSW.) The player is an RFA so the team might be looking to flip them for an asset (Jennings, Bledsoe (which I was wrong about)) That leaves Dragic and Knight. For Knight, who has been a disappointment, you would have to surmise that the Pistons have reached the conclusion he’s unlikely to be very good and so want to trade him while his value is still doesn’t. Dragic is definitely the biggest stretch, no doubt. But that team is going through changes, so who knows?

What makes proposing trades for the Jazz less absurd than it is for some teams is that we have assets — a wide range of them. From experienced, expiring quality, to young, cheap assets, to draft picks. Those are the things that teams want. It’s ridiculous, for example, for the Celtics and Lakers to covet young talent, because they have little to nothing to offer in return. But the Jazz have LOTS to offer — and I would argue, that given how hard is to attract decent free agents here — trades are the best bet for getting there.

As to the backup PG argument — what would these teams do? — I think that’s a bit silly. I imagine you’re familiar with the notion of replacement players. Finding a mildly competent backup PG to play 10, 12 minutes a night is probably the easiest role to fill in the NBA — from the D-League or an unsigned FA.

I hope that convinces you a little. Or maybe you’re just further convinced by how stupid I am!

]]>By: Matthttp://saltcityhoops.com/a-shoppers-guide-to-point-guards/#comment-3104
Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:30:18 +0000http://saltcityhoops.com/?p=5990#comment-3104I meant no jab! I’d say the Clippers are, what, roughly the fourth most likely team to win a title? Fifth? Behind MIA, OKC, SAS and, maybe, IND? (just because SOMEONE out East could beat the Heat, especially if there were an injury.)

By pretensions, I meant more like “they have a shot.” Poor word choice.

I suppose if you’re an optimist, you say “He needs a change in scenery.” But he’s not really young — 25 — and the trends in the numbers are depressing. Unless he comes for very little, I’d stay away.

]]>By: Matthttp://saltcityhoops.com/a-shoppers-guide-to-point-guards/#comment-3102
Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:20:10 +0000http://saltcityhoops.com/?p=5990#comment-3102Hey, you’re right! I was tricked by Chad Ford. They picked up his fourth year option for 2013-14 earlier this year. Sigh. So, yeah, unless the Clippers are convinced that another big is more important than the 18 minutes of excellence they’re getting from Bledsoe now, such a trade seems pretty unlikely.
]]>By: Jafahttp://saltcityhoops.com/a-shoppers-guide-to-point-guards/#comment-3101
Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:03:29 +0000http://saltcityhoops.com/?p=5990#comment-3101I’m a Nets fan and I’m here on your board because I am salivating for Millsap as I think he is the perfect PF for us. However, I know you guys need a young promising PG and we don’t have one to offer.

Looking at your list, the only realistic ones you can get at this trade deadline are the ones you should pass on due to age (Calderon, Jack) and potential (Isaiah Thomas looks like a great combo guard off the bench, not a floor leader). Pistons would rather trade Stuckey, Bucks will say no and match any restricted offer to Jennings, Dragic is the only attraction the Suns have and Lowry is Toronto’s PG of the future. But Eric Bledsoe will be there, possibly in the offseason (after Chris Paul re-signs) and you can make the trade then, but it will cost you some young assets and/or draft picks.

What about Eric Maynor? Don’t think OKC would object too much. Collison? After all, Dallas is open for business. Shved in Minny? Rubio is the future for them so he could be had for cheap.

In all fairness I know who the backup PG would be if the Clippers did trade Bledsoe. His name is Chauncey Billups. But I would be shocked if they traded him before this deadline because they are getting great production for CHEAP!!!

If they do decide to trade him, I think it would happen in the off season or at trade deadline next year. But really they have no reason to trade him as he will be a Restricted Free Agent after the 13/14 season.

But I agree with you on the rest of what you said.. Those 3 PG’s (Jennings, Lowry and Dragic) have been dubbed center pieces for their club. 2 of them are in their first year with the team.. I doubt they are ready to give up on them already.